LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Vanessa Shaffer was nominated by a colleague, Emily Mongeon.

Ms. Shaffer currently works five days a week at Edison Elementary. She has worked at Edison for 13 years. During this time, she has also had other school assignments. However, she has been able to maintain a comprehensive school counseling program at every school, no matter how many days she is assigned.

"I cannot think of a more qualified nominee for LifeChanger of the Year than Vanessa Shaffer. Her school counseling program embodies what every elementary school counselor should strive to develop," Mongeon said.

Ms. Shaffer’s program at Edison is truly comprehensive and is developed by looking at the needs of staff, students and families through data. She starts her program by sending out a needs assessment to her staff about how they want to be supported and what they want for their students. Through analyzing this needs assessment and the CAL-SCHLS data from the prior year, she develops her classroom lessons and groups based on these needs. In the time she has been at Edison, behavior referrals and suspensions have decreased, and the school climate has become more positive and safer for all students.

Currently at Edison, Ms. Shaffer provides monthly guidance lessons in every classroom on character education topics, conducts weekly 2nd Step lessons in nine classrooms, runs weekly groups on topics of skills for learning, emotion management, social skills and impulse control, and sees students for individual sessions and problem solving.

This year, before starting her small groups, she was able to collaborate with another school counselor to develop pre/post tests for all groups and develop weekly group lessons based on a variety of school counselor curriculum.

In addition to these direct services, Ms. Shaffer also runs numerous committees on campus: No Place for Hate, Wellness and PBIS. She also heads up Edison’s Student Council and coordinates an annual Career Fair for all students. Ms. Shaffer also supervises two graduate- level interns from SDSU.

Ms. Shaffer is very active within the community surrounding Edison and is always looking for ways to bring in additional resources for her students. One way she does this is through coordinating an annual holiday gift drive with a local retailer, Mimi and Red. This event has grown through the years, and now, other businesses are partnering with Ms. Shaffer, allowing many families to provide gifts for their children. She also works closely with local colleges to arrange annual field trips for the fifth grade students to visit a college.

The staff at Edison know how valuable Ms. Shaffer is to the school community. When looking at the budget for this current school year, the school could only afford her for four days. The staff decided to forgo PLC time in order to continue funding her full time position.

"Vanessa’s passion and professionalism make her the ideal candidate for LifeChanger of the Year. It is with great pleasure that I nominate such an incredible colleague that lifts our profession to higher standards," Mongeon said.